The current generation of young people is working hard to be significantly more progressive and open-minded than the ones that came before it.
You can really see those efforts on a platform like Tumblr—apparently more so than on any other social network, actually.
Tumblr Says 'A Helluva Lot' of Its Users Are Queer
A month before 2021 dips into June, or LGBT+ Pride Month, Tumblr has called itself 'The Queerest Place on the Internet,' and has created a new official blog to celebrate that fact.
Give the #queerestplaceontheinternet a look: https://t.co/XRLUwR6ObM
— Tumblr (@tumblr) May 4, 2021
The social network made a post to share some interesting statistics on Tumblr users (which according to Adweek, are courtesy of GlobalWebIndex) from the fourth quarter of 2020. Here are some of the key data points:
- 193 percent more likely to be LGBT+ than a user from any other social network
- 128 percent more likely to be LGBT+ than the average internet user
- One out of four are LGBT+
- 60% of new users and 48% of all users are generation Z
Tumblr says that no matter what, queer individuals will always be able to find support, acceptance, and guidance on the platform.
Let’s talk about you—the LGBTQIA+ community on Tumblr. You, who uplift each other, back each other up, uphold each other’s truths. You make Tumblr the supportive space it is. (...) This is who you are. Not just in June, but every day of every year. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
The launch of Tumblr's new LGBT+ support blog was received warmly on its own platform (the post has over 23,000 likes and reblogs at the time of writing), but sees a lot of pointed criticisms off it.
Almost all the replies to the Twitter announcement are negative comments, accusing the company of "rainbow capitalism" (using LGBT+ marketing exclusively for profit and not in genuine support) and bashing how Tumblr has handled content takedowns in the past.
Why Haven't I Heard About Tumblr in a While?
There was once a time where Tumblr was included among the likes of Facebook and Twitter as one of the most dominant forces in the social media game. However, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
In January 2016, the blogging platform had over 500 million monthly visitors (according to Alexa), but that number dropped to less than 400 million by August 2019.
There's a few theories as to what caused the userbase to shrink, but the majority consensus seems to be that Tumblr's ban of adult content in December 2018 is main reason why. Prior to the ban, the site received a lot of flak for its surprising amount of NSFW posts.
